2018 has arrived. In fact January has one week left and we will be heading into the rest of the year. February brings with it the beginning of school, the end of the relaxed chilled out vibes of the holidays, and a return to routine.

So, I guess it is time to share with you my word for the year … connection.

And as it has been a long time since my January post, I remind you again of the definition of embrace:

Embrace: to take and clasp in the arms; to clasp as in affection, greeting; to accept willingly or eagerly; to take up a new idea, faith etc., adopt; to comprise or include as an integral part; to encircle or enclose (from Old French a pair of arms)

As has happened every year, unexpected words have attached themselves to these words. And I have been very surprised to how these two much more gentle words have grown stronger in me … ‘grace and space’.

We are in the in-between time right now. The pause between this year and the next. The time that I naturally reflect and consider, dream and plan, evaluate and pray, for the year that has passed, and the year to come.

Each year I like to choose a word or phrase for the year and 2015 was the year of “a new rhythm“.